1. UCL Press Plans and Preparation
Lara Speicher, Publishing Manager
UCL Library Forum, 26 February 2014

2. Background
One of the few universities in the top 10 in the world not to have its own press
UCL Press imprint licensed to a commercial publisher, Taylor and Francis for c.10 years
By 2007 they were no longer publishing new books under the imprint
Paul Ayris negotiated its repatriation to UCL in August 2013
I joined in November 2013 as Publishing Manager

3. What will UCL Press publish?
Scholarly monographs, conference proceedings and textbooks
Initially, these will be sought from UCL academics
We will consider all subject areas
We will also seek books by non-UCL authors
Later, we will consider other publishing genres

4. What is UCL Press’s mission?
The mission of UCL Press is:
- To publish books of the highest academic excellence that reflect the innovative, global research undertaken at UCL
- To create a publishing programme as innovative as UCL itself

5. How to set up a university press
Promote the Press to potential authors
Establish Faculty editorial boards
Recruitment of publishing team
Website, budget planning and systems software
Developing the publishing strategy
Operations eg the commissioning, peer review, editorial and production processes, sales, marketing, distribution (in-house v outsourced)

6. When will UCL Press start publishing?
First call for proposals in The 13 Feb
Simultaneously, visits to faculties, departments
First proposals Feb 2014
First manuscripts delivered March 2014-September 2014
Launch and publication of first list: Spring 2015

7. How will UCL Press operate
All authors will have to submit a proposal for consideration by the UCL Press Board
Faculty publishing boards recommend and review proposals
All manuscripts will be peer reviewed
All books will be professionally copy-edited and typeset by external suppliers
The production processes will be managed by UCL Press staff

8. Sales, marketing and publicity
All books available free online in UCL Discovery – Open Access
Sold on the UCL Press website
All books sold in print-on-demand editions and consumer ebooks, via Amazon, UCL Press’s own website, wholesalers, worldwide sales
Marketing and publicity, including advertising, promotional brochures and flyers, review copies sent out, social media campaigns

9. Open Access All UCL Press books will be made available as Open Access
Open Access maximises the dissemination and
visibility of research worldwide
Many funders already have OA mandates in place
UCL is at the forefront of promoting OA: the OA team has already funded around 1200 UCL authors to make their work available as OA

10. Challenges
Uncertainty felt by authors about publishing their book with an unproven publisher
Many authors want their work published by a well-known, established publisher
Inevitably takes time to establish a strong reputation to attract the best authors
Not all authors are happy about Open Access but the OA landscape is changing rapidly and will increasingly become the norm in scholarly publishing

11. Opportunities UCL renowned for its world-class research
Ranked 4thin the QS World League Tables 2013
UCL takes an innovative approach to research
UCL Press is in an excellent position to capitalise on the work of UCL and to publish books that reflect the innovation of its academics

12. Journals hosting service
UCL Discovery hosts journals publishing software (Open Journals System)
Articles hosted in UCL Discovery.
OJS facilitates processes such as peer review
Journals boards manage themselves and UCL Press advises the boards on technical issues
Already have the Journal of Bentham Studies and Slovo, with others in the pipeline

13. Business model All books will be available free online – Open Access
The Press is funded from UCL’s research budget
The aim is to achieve a cost-recovery model by year three
Achieved through the sale of PoD and consumer ebook editions
All books by UCL authors will be fully funded by the Press

14. Conclusion
While there are undoubtedly many challenges ahead, UCL Press has a wonderful opportunity to create an exciting new university press in London